The male reproductive system undergoes several adverse age-related changes like decreased hormone synthesis, sperm count, and testicular alteration that can impact on fertility.
Objective
The study aims to investigate the effects of testosterone propionate (TP), and ayurvedic formulation Swarna Bhasma (SB) on D-galactose (D-gal) induced reproductive aging in male Wistar rats.
Materials and Methods
60 male Wistar rats were divided into 10 groups of 6 animals. Reproductive aging was induced by D-gal (150 mg/kg Bwt) exposure for 60 days. The rats were then treated by post and combination treatment with TP (2 mg/kg Bwt) and SB (6.75 mg/kg Bwt). Then sperm parameters, reproductive hormones, inflammatory markers, testicular antioxidant enzymes, steroidogenic enzymes, and histological manifestation of testis were evaluated.
Results
Exposure of D-gal caused significant (p 0.001) decrease in serum testosterone (T), testicular steroidogenic, and antioxidant enzymes. Administration of TP increased the serum T level, testicular antioxidant enzymes, and spermatogenic profile at a significant level of (p 0.001) compared to D-gal. Further, the SB treatment significantly (p 0.001) elevated the serum T level, sperm count, testicular antioxidant enzymes, steroidogenic enzymes, when compared to D-gal.
Conclusion
Both the treatment of TP and SB treatments recovered the reproductive impairments caused by D-gal. However, exogenous T supplementation via TP administration is associated with various side effects during long-term use. SB is an Ayurvedic formulation having a long history of usage in India. The current findings suggest that the SB may be used as a good alternative for potentiating reproductive function in aging males.
Keywords: D-galactose, Aging, Testosterone propionate, Swarna Bhasma, Testis, Hypogonadism, infertility.
Click on "Archives" to access the full archive of scientific preprints. You may use the categories and the search functionality to find select preprints you're interested in.
